The Innovation Lab – independently resourced and with an established innovation discipline – increases the chance that ideas that support HUD’s Strategic Plan and Open Government goals can find the light of day, can grow and be tested, and can begin providing essential value to HUD communities. HUD’s Innovation Lab brings together dedicated resources, tools, and techniques that may not otherwise be available to accelerate the development of solutions more efficiently than other available approaches. The Lab is participatory, collaborative and fosters transparency by showing the idea submission process on an electronic dashboard which ensures that HUD employees receive proper credit and attribution for their good ideas.
The goal of the Innovation Lab is to accelerate the formulation of transformational ideas into solutions which are then implemented more efficiently than other available approaches enable. In this process, not all ideas will become reality. The Innovation Lab Framework entails a multidisciplinary process for evolving well-defined and compelling ideas to a point where a tangible solution is created or a decision is made that the idea is not currently viable. Before ideas are supported by the Innovation Lab, the generation of a good idea must first occur. The framework guides ideation, application to the Innovation Lab, design of ideas to specification, incubation (i.e. prototyping), and idea launch. In close collaboration with program areas, the Innovation Lab provides strategies, tools, techniques, as well as supplemental resources for exploring compelling new ideas. Working with Innovation Lab Director, staff, cross-departmental teams and external partnerships are formulated to develop and launch new ideas.
Graphic: Innovation Lab Framework
Ideation
The purpose of Ideation at HUD is to generate, develop, and communicate ideas that inclusively tap into valuable stakeholder resources to achieve the agency’s mission and performance goal. Ideation occurs whenever a program office solicits ideas from internal or external stakeholders. Program offices determine whether or not good ideas they receive are best suited for implementation and, in some cases, may decide to obtain support of HUD’s Innovation Lab.
Admission
Project Applications that pass the initial review process then migrate into the Admission phase of HUD’s Innovation Lab. Within this phase, all associated submission documentation will be finalized, the Admission Panel will convene and analyze the proposed projects, and a collective determination will be reached. The Panel will review applications based on their alignment to HUD’s Strategic Plan and the principals of open government.
Design
The purpose of the Design phase is to conduct research and develop a solution model. The Design team will generate a Draft Specification and Draft Business Case for ideas that are successfully admitted to the Innovation Lab. Design promotes development, teamwork, collaboration, and adaptability to, as rapidly as possible, identify all the constraints, restraints, resources and projected benefits of the idea.
Incubation
The Incubation period produces a working prototype of the solution. This prototype has been refined and reviewed, and is then delivered with a set of comprehensive recommendations for Launch. Incubation is used to prove that a particular solution is potentially viable and valuable to stakeholders. A Final Specification and Final Business Case are produced resulting in a launch strategy.
Launch
Launch is the process of adopting a working prototype, refining the solution, and implementing the idea into production. HUD has effective implementation procedures for new products, services or operations in place that shall be followed for idea solutions. The purpose of Launch at HUD is to deploy working concepts into a functional environment, so that ideas can be realized and the solutions utilized by stakeholders. The potential paths for launch are a pilot, complete deployment, and further development through HUD’s IT Project Planning and Management Lifecycle.
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